Food...or not?

Today... we looked at Acts 6 this week in two sections.

In the first half of the chapter, we read about a dilemma facing the apostles and discovered that...
1. ...sometimes, Satan will try to distract us from what God has called us to do, with something that isn't necessarily bad. The apostles were called to pray and preach the gospel, but the distraction was that some of the needy widows weren't getting enough food. If we read the OT, we will see that God is very passionate about our duty to look after needy people, so this was a real good thing to sort out! Thankfully, they were alert, and realised that they needed to give the job to Christians who were also filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom, to look after the needs of the widows. Otherwise they risked getting distracted from doing what they were called to do. As a result, in Acts 6:7, we see that the word of God spread and more people became Christians!
2. ...as Christians, if we serve God together, there isn't one task that is greater than another: serving the widows was as important to the spread of the gospel, as preaching the word of God and praying. It all had to be done, but different Christians were called to do different things. So, pressing buttons on the computer obviously helps our church services run more smoothly, but it isn't more important than looking after newcomers, setting up the chairs or helping to clean up or put things away...and in all of our different roles, we will have the opportunity to show people the way to salvation. Also, just because you think people can't see what you are doing, it doesn't mean that you should do it randomly, because you are serving God in everything you do (not just in church!) Look at it another way: just because you are not top of the science class, it doesn't mean that you should just copy someone's homework and not bother making your own effort!

In the first half of the chapter we were also introduced to Stephen. He was one of the 7 men chosen to help look after the widows. In the second half of the chapter, we saw that using God's gifts and his witnessing about Jesus was getting him into trouble with people who didn't want the gospel to be spread.
At first they tried to argue with him, but his wisdom was too irresistable and they didn't get very far. So...they started lies about him, which gave them a good (fake) reason to seize him and get him into big trouble...
The people accused Stephen of blaspheming against God, talking about destroying the temple (which represented the presence of God) and disrespecting God's law (which represented the will and heart of God).

Prepare chapter 7 for next week with this in mind, and we will look at it in more detail about what happens next. And for those of you who already know the story of Stephen, make sure you READ the passage very carefully, because next week's session will not just go like this: "Hi, today we are going to finish the story of Stephen, the guy that got stoned and became the first Christian martyr. Bye!"

Ta-da! Update finished for this week :)